Köln

[kœln]

/[kœln]/ name

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

The verdict

“Köln” has 6 generated spelling variants in the German index at frequency #704. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#704
frequency rank, German
4,158
“K” headwords
6
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Stadt in Nordrhein-Westfalen, viertgrößte Stadt Deutschlands, gelegen am Rhein

Corpus desk

Index DE-koln · Köln · German

Köln · rank #704 · 6 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-CORE #704
  • LEN-MID 4 letters
  • VOW-1 1 vowel
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 6 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,158
  • PHOTO-FINISH ihres

Nearest frequency peer: ihres (-1 rank slots)

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Rang-Peers am Tippfehler-Magneten „Köln“

Gleiche Seltenheitsbandbreite: nützlich, wenn ein Tippfehler auf ein Peer-Lemma trifft

corpus weight

What this shows „Köln“ sitzt unter diesen FrequencyWords-Peers; die Tippfehlertiefe steht separat im Edit-Distance-Chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

Köln vs kot
0% similar
Köln vs kom
0% similar
Köln vs Kor
25% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for Köln
PropertyValue
HeadwordKöln
LanguageGerman
Part of speechProper noun
IPA[kœln]
Letters4
Frequency rank#704
Misspellings tracked6
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Häufigkeitslage von Tippfehler-Magnet „Köln“

Diese Skala geht vom Kern des Alltagdeutschen (links) bis zum seltenen Langschwanz (rechts).Kölnliegt hier neben dem Tippfehler-Druck:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Die Ticks laufen logarithmisch; jeder ist rund zehnmal seltener. Peers derselben Seltenheitsbandbreite: „ihres“ (#703), „Möglichkeit“ (#705), „hören“ (#702). Unter 4,158 „K“-Lemmata liegt „Köln“ bei #704. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 6 spelling variants around Köln (IPA [kœln]), aproper noun. Corpus frequency is #704 among 4,158 “K” headwords. Dominant gloss: "Stadt in Nordrhein-Westfalen, viertgrößte Stadt Deutschlands, gelegen am Rhein".

Our generated misspelling index lists 6 likely wrong-spelling variants for Köln, with forms such as "kköln", "klön", and "kölln". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "kot", "kom", "Kor", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

No borrowing history is documented for this entry, so its spelling is easiest explained by how it's pronounced rather than where it came from. The correct German form is Köln, spelled K-Ö-L-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    Stadt in Nordrhein-Westfalen, viertgrößte Stadt Deutschlands, gelegen am Rhein

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how Köln appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Meine Tante arbeitet bei RTL in Köln.
  2. „Im Zweiten Weltkrieg fielen am 18. Juni 1940 auf Köln die ersten Bomben, ab 1942 wurde das Bombardement durch die britische Luftwaffe intensiviert.“

This word in other languages

Cologne(English)Colonia(Español)Cologne(Français)Colônia(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • kköln
  • klön
  • kölln
  • kölnn
  • könl
  • ökln

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of Köln - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.

kköln1klön2kölln1kölnn1könl2ökln2
Edit distance from "Köln"

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 German corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "Köln"?
"Köln" is spelled K-Ö-L-N. The IPA pronunciation is [kœln].
What does "Köln" mean?
As a proper noun, "Köln" means: Stadt in Nordrhein-Westfalen, viertgrößte Stadt Deutschlands, gelegen am Rhein
What words are commonly confused with "Köln"?
"Köln" is commonly confused with "kot", "kom", "Kor". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "Köln"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "Köln" is [kœln]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "Köln" come from?
"Köln" is a German word. PlainSpell covers definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar German words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "Köln", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked German headwords with 4 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

habt#701Höhe#717mach#687Juni#685

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (6 here; floor ≥5).

falls6 variantsfällt6 variantsTitel6 variantsZahl6 variants

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list